Bingum II “the Lucky” Osrick’s reign began with great promise. He was born in 1180, the eldest son of King Gregor I “Swift Sword” Osrick, and Bingum became king in 1197. His first queen was Isabel “the Golden” Norbert, and they wed in 1198. Isabel very much was the love of Bingum’s life, and their legendary romance has been celebrated in many ballads.
Bingum’s brother was Oliver the Playboy Prince, also known as the Knight of the White Swan, and he was born in 1186. There was also a brother who died young, and a sister who pursued a life in the Church, but they had little impact on this history.
Prince Oliver never married, but kept an array of mistresses, and he fathered many illegitimate offspring. He sired at least eleven known natural sons, and an unspecified number of daughters. Oliver’s reputation has suffered in later days, with his romantic escapades overshadowing his many political and military accomplishments. He played a prominent role supporting Bingum, and they remained close confidants.
Prince Oliver’s known natural sons:
Bhradrix the Spider Knight, b. 1205
Bohemond b. 1206., Castle Whitefeather Steward
Gaston, Marshall at Castle Whitefeather
Alwyn Long Reach, Sheriff of Upper Ward, Gwyfned City
Nicholaus of Rooth, b. 1199, Dean of Gwyfned Cathedral
Wayland of Liddlemass, b. 1196, Guild-master and former warden of the Merchant Adventurers’ Guild. Bingum and Isabel’s first child was Victor “the Honorable” Osrick, born in 1199, and he served as High King of Rhonce until his death, but he died in 1115 without issue. Bingum’s second son was Brand “the Sun Prince” Osrick, who was born in 1201. He succeeded as the High King of Rhonce during his life, and he died in 1224 without issue. His third son was Dathan I Osrick, born in 1205, but sadly, his mother Isabel passed away from childbirth complications soon after the prince’s birth.
Relations between father and son had remained strained. Bingum lost his beloved wife, and Dathan was packed off to a monastery. Since he had older brothers, and not himself that near to the throne, it was assumed that Dathan would become a bishop and a prince of the Church. Isabel’s passing was a major blow for Bingum, and his zeal for ruling waned. In 1210, he married his second queen, Angoulene Mathurne. His advisors pressured him into this match, because he was still young (he was 30 at this point) and this would further cement his ties with House Mathurne. Their children included Rachel Osrick in 1210, and Elaine Star-born Osrick in 1223.
Angoulene Mathurne Osrick—Bingum II Osrick’s second queen from 2010, she was born in 1194, the daughter of - Theodoric I the Ram Mathurne and Felicia the Wicked Tolan Mathurne.
Rachel Osrick—b. 1210, she married Anselm (b. 1216), a prominent Doctor of Theology at Gwyfnedi University in 1230.
Elaine Star-born Osrick—b. 1223, currently 12 years old.
During a diplomatic mission to Skybridge in 1222, Oliver Osrick was captured by the Ashen Twilight. This organization was composed of ambitious sorcerers and necromancers, although their intended agenda was not well understood. The Ashen Twilight held Oliver captive for a year, torturing him and subjecting him to horrors until his mind broke. Meanwhile, the Ashen Twilight demanded half-a-million silver regals for his release.
Melena had read Oliver’s horoscope, and she understood the potential outcome, so she created an enchanted seal ring for Oliver. It would protect him from Ashen Twilight’s sorcery, and stored luck magic as well. For reason unknown, Oliver gave his magic seal to one of his mistresses, Elsbette of Dalryme, who was mother of their son Bhradrix. Bhradrix eventually inherited the seal, and he still bears it.
King Bingum was beside himself, because he depended heavily on Oliver, but half-a million regals far exceeded Bingum’s royal holdings and Gwyfned’s yearly national income. Through his ambassador, Kayan Albaugh, Bingum bargained hard for a reduced ransom, but to effect. Bingum intended to defund his empire to pay for his brother’s release, and he passed a series of very unpopular taxes. This money collected he collected this way wasn’t enough, and the citizenry grew dangerously rebellious under their tax burden.
In late 1224, the Lord’s Ordainers arrived on the scene. These Gwyfnedi peers offered to pay the prince’s ransom, but in return, they would assume control of Gwyfned and Aorlis. They would rule in Bingum’s name and with his authority. It was a bloodless coup, and King Bingum II agreed to their terms. The Lord’s Ordainers were Madelyne Grayton, Contessa of East Eldton; Quincy “Iron Hand” Everard, Count of Eldruth; and Cardinal Primate Eugenious Falk, head of the Gwyfnedi Church and a cleric of almost unmatched ecclesiastical power. The Lord’s Ordainers were now the rulers of Gwyfned and the Empire of Aorlis.
Contessa Madeline Grayton had major holdings in both Eldris and Gwyfned, making her domain multinational. She dreamed of independence from both holdings, and a unified throne of her own.
Quincy Everard, Count of Eldruth—Quincy was a lifelong soldier, but he lost his right arm in battle. His nickname, “Iron Hand” referenced the advanced prosthetic hand he wore. Quincy secretly was a member of the Ashen Twilight and a powerful mage himself. He collected his ransom funding from the Ashen Twilight.
Cardinal Primate Eugenious Falk—One of the top clerics in Aorlis, and top overall in Gwyfned, Eugenius has become grasping and devious. His loyalties are not to Gwyfned, but making himself the future Patriarch of the Church in Kaidlorr. He controls the Gwyfnedi Church’s prodigious wealth.
Despite being reunited with his brother, Oliver Osrick’s mind was broken by the ordeal. Physicians, wizards, and holy men all tried to restore Oliver, but without success. Bingum was unsure what to do, so for Oliver’s protection, he confined the prince to a tall tower in castle Whitefeather. Within the year, however, tragedy struck, and Oliver fell from the tower’s heights to his death below.
Melena, among others, tried to restore Oliver’s shattered mind, but this brought her into conflict again with Magron, her archenemy and the leader of the Ashen Twilight. She and Magron had a long, tumultuous history that tracks back through the ages.
Magron controlled Oliver’s mind, and the sorcerer planned to use his new, princely pawn to unseat Bingum and permanently claim Gwyfned for the Lord’s Ordainers, and thus indirectly for Magron himself. Despite what everyone believed, Prince Oliver’s mind was not completely lost, and he heroically defied Magron’s control and sacrificed himself to save his brother.
Magron, who was “riding” Oliver’s mind, also died in Oliver’s suicide. Magron was immortal, and he already had lived through four incarnations before his current one. When his fourth body died, the Ashen Twilight used their necromantic power to resurrect him. Thus, Magron’s fifth form was conjured.
Bingum II was a shadow of his former self at this point. He was still king, but his authority had usurped by the Lord’s Ordainers, leaving him little to do. He was lost without his brother’s counsel, anyway. The king grew morbidly obese, and he succumbed to the “sweet sickness.” In 1230, the royal physicians and surgeons were forced to amputate Bingum’s left foot, which had turned gangrenous.
As 1230 commenced, Dathan, the crown prince, had established his main residence at Hollywell House. Dathan had little personal power in Gwyfned, because the traditional chain of command had been broken by the Lord’s Ordainers, but the prince still had his title, and he collected a rich living from Rhonce. He purposely had not yet challenged the Lord’s Ordainers’ power, and he wouldn’t until he was ready.
Traditionally, the crown prince receives Hollywell House as his Gwyfnedi residence, and the High Kingdom of Rhonce for his financial support. The current king’s eldest brother traditionally usually was awarded life-estate to the county of Khellidor, and the king’s second eldest brother a life-estate to the duchy of Urgholt. Without royal brothers, Khellidor and Urgholt were left in abeyance and overseen by royal stewards.
Dathan was ambitious, with big plans for Gwyfned and Aorlis as a whole. By 1235 he still kept his peace with the Lord’s Ordainers, but the prince had surrounded himself with advisors of his own choosing.
Dathan’s Gwyfned Ambitions—He intended to rest power from the Lord’s Ordainers by any means necessary.
Dathan’s Aorlis Ambitions—Once he consolidated his control of Gwyfned, the prince planned to restore the empire to its former glory. He planned to reclaim the Argolin Islands, Parse, Eubrac, Narbelle, Norward, St. Claude’s Islands, Trimontre, and (by extension) West Karmithia. He also schemed to bring Burlam’s oversea empire into Aorlis, and that included Circularium, the DeRoche Islands, and Novelum. The latter acquisition would be touchy, because Burlam had been acting in its own name, establishing their colonial holdings.
Dathan controlled the ship works in Baerl city, Kaldur. In recent years, he had the Kaldurians building a powerful, standing navy, the first of its type in Aorlisian history. The prince already had concluded that his ships would be his tool for military power projection. He was prescient about the rise of sea power.
The prince’s close advisors included Bhradrix the Spider Knight, Galen Trueheart, Gunfrith the Axe, Melena Lady Nightengale, and Kayan Albaugh, Chancellor of Gwyfned.
Bhradrix the Spider Knight—He was one of Oliver Osrick’s natural sons, but while away from Aorlis he became a mercenary, serving in the Company of the Black Lance. Then he joined Thendaros Imperial Guard, and after that a successful strategos. He returned to Aorlis fabulously wealthy, and Dathan won him over with his dream of a unified Aorlis. Technically, Bhradrix was Dathan’s natural first cousin and Bingum’s natural nephew. He has been made life-estate Count of Khellidor, much as if he were the king’s eldest brother.
Galen Trueheart—He was a famous and fantastically wealthy troubadour, and he originally served in Oliver Osrick’s house. He was the baron of Hartscourt, Gunfrith his intended, but he holds terrible secrets. He was a powerful, if self-taught wizard, and Melena has become his sometimes tutor.
Gunfrith the Axe—Originally a shield-maiden from Fiordlunde, she and her son migrated south when her husband died. She joined the Imperial Guard in Thendaros and rose high, after which she accompanied Galen and Bhradrix to Aorlis. She has become romantically tied to Galen since then, and her son Gunnar has become Bhradrix’s page. Now she heads Dathan’s personal guard.
Melena Kamith, Lady Nightengale—She’s an immortal magister, the daughter of Kamith, who founded the ancient Karmithian Empire. Now she hides in plain sight, serving as the king’s astrologer, but very few know her true age, identity, or true power. She tutored Dathan in magic. Once, she taught young Magron magic, but since then they had been bitter enemies for millennia.
Kayan Albaugh—He’s the chancellor of Gwyfned, Viscount of Dolek, and Suffragen Prince Bishop of Upper Dolek. He administered Gwyfned and its government for Bingum II, but he lost most of his authority once the Lord’s Ordainers took charge. He wished to restore the old balance of power, and he viewed Prince Dathan as the future’s finest promise.
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